Thursday, June 19, 2008

“On the good ship lollipopIts a night trip into bed you hopAnd dream awayOn the good ship lollipop.”

Can we dream? Yes, we can ! As our severely damaged ship of state hits still another iceberg and remains floating. For a while. But the enormous problems of this metaphoric vessel - unpayable debt , enormous environmental abuse, destruction and murder at every port it visits - need more than dreams, motivational talks from a skipper, or a crew pretending it actually navigates. Unfortunately, that’s all we have now. We may find ourselves not just rearranging deck chairs, but electing a new captain without noticing the water rushing in, the people below decks drowning, or the richest rats abandoning ship.

A TV presentation of “So You Think You Can Be President” has brought new people into an old process and made it seem fresh . But that’s only if they've never participated before, or their memories are short, or their despair kindles desperate hopes like those of an addict waiting for a new drug to erase ugly reality.

A generation ago, a popular autobiography titled “Yes I Can” resonated among a public socialized to seek individual success through self esteem, part of the psycho programming alleged to make one a great person, but rarely make us a great people. Except when we’re mobilized to kill foreigners. So it can seem like progress to inspire Americans with an ad campaign that says yes “we” can, and markets a collective identity rather than an individual obsession. Many anticipate that an Obama regime will bring a more social perspective to our personal fixations , and as always we should hope for the best. But we’d better be prepared for the worst.

Obama’s shameless pandering before reactionary Cuban-Americans and his groveling before zionist Jewish-Americans should convince even a drunken Pollyanna that there will be no change in a foreign policy that promises continued and growing hatred for America. Political cynics claim the candidate must not offend those who deserted their country for Miami and now pledge their votes to any who support their fanaticism. Worse , he dare not criticize American power exercised for an apartheid Jewish state which further brutalizes Palestinians, and ultimately threatens this nation. Hello?

How can we support such politics and still claim that we are working for change? Where? In corporate schemes to place more upper class women and blacks in management positions, so they might serve the interest of ruling class white men in executive positions? Programs that send one privileged black to Yale, while consigning hundreds of under privileged blacks to jail?

When will we learn that changing the gender or skin tone of the bombardier does not save the lives of those on whom “he” or “she” drops the bombs?That it is not progress to have integrated victims savaged by integrated victimizers? That a rape victim will not be pleased at being ravaged by a college graduate rather than a high school dropout?

It’s not the armed forces that need to be more racial and gender inclusive, but the war policies they carry out that must be stopped. Can anyone seriously think the next administration will do anything to change the system that is our problem? Even with a smily faced group of newly integrated status quo protectors?

It would certainly be different to have an African-American president, when all past CEOs have been white men. And we may someday have female, gay or transvestite Oval Office occupants . But what difference will it make if they serve the same wealthy minorities that have ruled us into our current predicament?

We are on a dangerously crippled vessel and we’re concerned about the race or sex of the captain, or how many of the executive staff use the boy’s or the girl’s bathroom? And this while we bombard every port of call, dominate its governments and pirate its resources , and cause more recruiting of its rebels to puncture deeper holes in the keel of our badly listing ship.Hello, again?

Class inequality demands more of our attention than whether the upper class is better integrated and gender balanced , while the lower class keeps growing and remains “diverse”. This is best seen in the enormous and expanding gaps in wealth and income among our people .

Sixty years ago the richest 20% of Americans made 43% of all earnings. Now, they have more than 50% of all income. After all these years of individual striving and identity group politics, the minority has grown more rich and the majority more poor. At last, poor women and poor blacks can be lorded over by wealthier females and richer African Americans . Progress!

Obama has raised millions from small donors, but if they believe they control him, they are on board the Lollipop while sailing the Titanic. It is Wall street and Zionist money that commands his performance and will continue to do so until the crew that moves the ship demands real change, even if that means real mutiny.

Unless we consider building a lifeboat Ark and taking on board only a chosen few, we’d best see to it that the slogan involving “we” truly expresses a collective , and not just those whose salvation depends on having the most money and weapons. If we want to end the warfare culture and create a peaceful world with social justice for all, we can’t do it with representation which continues to serve Corporate Capital and Zionism. Real change will only happen with an aroused movement for peace and equality that goes beyond specially selected individuals. That means a social transformation including all, and not just some. We need to make that happen or face a potentially disastrous future. To paraphrase the campaign ad : Can we? We must.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Frank Scott. All rights reserved.

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frank scottemail: frankscott@comcast.net

Frank Scott writes political commentary which appears in the Coastal Post, The Independent Monitor and on his shared blog at: